A Lost Child
by nbarbas
Summary: This is a story on the origins of Majora's Masks Skull Kid. It follows him in his life until the point where the timeline of Majora's Mask begins.


How long have I been walking in here? The never ending foliage seems to laugh at me as I make my way slowly through the woods. All I wanted to know was where the music was coming from, but even now the music seems so faint. I struggle to retrace my steps but find it futile and end up going in circles. If I listen closely, I think I can hear my brother calling but I can't find him. If only I had listened to him. Had I done that, I never would have entered these woods in search of the source of the sweet melody that often plays here.

I listen closely, trying to hear my brother calling to me. Where is it coming from? The right or left? I can't make any sense of his voice anymore. Slowly night is beginning to fall on the woods. I must get out while there is still daylight and I can still see. I begin to quicken my pace until I am sprinting. Crashing through the woods, I reach a clearing with two tree stumps in the middle. I fly by them at a full sprint and exit the clearing, delving once more into the brush. But to my dismay, as soon as I leave the clearing, I enter it once more! Picking a different direction, I head out once more only to find myself back in the clearing with the two tree stumps. I try several more times to escape the reached place but every time I fail, each time returning to the same spot. Climbing onto the larger tree stump I begin to grow hopeless. I am lost and alone. As night begins to fall, I curl slowly into a ball on the cold wooden pedestal and tears begin to flow from my eyes.

Soon I lay on the stump engulfed in darkness. Sounds came from the woods all around me, a rustling of leaves and the scampering of creatures in the night. I cower in the pitch black and whimper in fear, but no one can hear me. Then a faint glow appears in the clearing as the moon split the clouds and vanquishes the darkness around me. It smiles down upon me and lighting the night. The perils of the clearing begin to slowly fade away. I slip slowly to sleep, allowing the moon to watch over me.

Days pass slowly at first but then began to move faster. I came to learn many things about the forest. First and foremost, I didn't need to eat. Despite the months I spent, I could still move without a pang of hunger. I spend all of my time now making things. Currently I am working on a flute. I have been stripping down a stick with a sharp rock I have fond. Once I finish this, I plan to learn the song that often plays in these parts. I have channeled my entire being into determining the melody.

I can no longer remember how many days I have been lost in the forest. My memory can't extend that far back. But I face a bigger problem now, my face has started to become itchy and I will sit for hours scratching but the itch never ceases. My skin has become flakey and sometimes falls from my mauled face, but the wretched itchiness will never leave. I don't understand it. I try to take my mind off of the itching by playing on my flute but even that does not comfort me. I can never quite get the song right, no matter how many times I attempt it. The notes flee from my mind as I try to spin them together. Perhaps I will never know how the song goes.

My scratching has now come to an end. As I reach my hand to my face I can feel my fingernails grind against bone. All of the skin on my face has fallen off. I am ashamed of my appearance. What abominable curse would do such a thing as to remove a person's face? When I first discovered this I wept for days, but the crying only seemed to sweep away more skin. Now I have no more tears to shed and I lie here alone, whimpering and covering my skull face in order to hide it from the world. Only the moon calms me down these days. His face is like mine, silver with a toothy grin. He understands the feeling and the self-loathing. The moon protects me from the dark and is the only thing I have left.

I hear a rustling in the woods, footsteps. I look up anxiously to see who it might be. How long has it been since I saw another person; I don't know. I pull my hat further down to hide my skeleton face from the figure coming closer. But then he steps into the clearing and I see he is like me. The sunlight glints off of the pale bone that makes up his face and a ghastly smile shines from underneath a hat that looks similar to mine. "H-Hello" I croak, my voice coming out raspy, as I realized how long it had been since I last spoke to someone. "Hello" the figure responds in the same crackly voice "you seem lonely come with me and we'll play". It had been a long time since I had done anything fun, so I set out with this mysterious figure. We dance and play music all day having more fun than I had in a long time. But then I pluck the hat off of his head as a joke and things turned for the worse. The kids face moved into a fierce expression as his entire face was exposed. Then he lunged at me, slicing me with his long, grown out nails and throwing me back in the process. "You should be more careful not to take things that aren't yours" he snarls at me, picking up his hat and pulling it far down over his face. Quickly turning, he stalks off into the woods. Stunned, I rise wearily and travel back to my stump. I gather leaves around me and press them against the fresh wound, stopping the dark liquid from flowing out of me. But the wound lasts much longer.

Once again I hear footsteps and I spring to my feet. Is it the skull kid back to give me another chance? I peer through the woods at the figure approaching. As he comes into the clearing he looks at me. He is clad in a green tunic and a long pointed hat, similar to a night cap. He carries a short sword in his left hand and a shield in the other. I stare at him wondering, will he attack me with the sharpened sword out of fear? I begin to grow afraid as the figure comes forward silently. I tilt back my hat so he can see my skeleton grin. Undeterred, the youth still walks forward as if my face has not bothered him at all. Suddenly he leaps onto the smaller tree stump in the clearing and sheaths his sword. Putting his shield on his back, he draws a small blue object from his pocket and puts it to his lips. I begin to move backwards, afraid without knowing why. But suddenly music begins to flow from the object, a sweet melody that I knew well. It is the song of the forest! I take out my own flute and put it to my lips. The boy carefully plays the song again and I follow him note for note. Happiness engulfs me as I play the song once more and break out into dance. I quickly snatch up one of the objects I have found on in the forest and present it to him. He takes it and slowly walks the way he had come.

Soon after the boy had come to the clearing, I found I was able to leave. I now travel through the woods looking for an exit. I have not yet found it, although the forest around me now changes, something I had not experienced when I was stuck in the clearing. At night, when I sleep, however, I still find a spot where I can see the moon and it can protect me from anything lurking in the woods. But now, as the trees begin to thin, I find myself at the edge of a vast field with a town at its center. I trudge forward tiredly, hoping to reach the town. As I get closer though, the sky begins to darken. Soon rain falls so hard I can no longer see in front of me. I quickly move to a hollowed out log to seek shelter from the rain. Drenched, I begin to shiver and tears start to trickle down my face. Why has this life been so cruel to me? For what purpose must I suffer? Caught in my own distress, I did not notice the two next to me until one spoke. Looking over I saw two fairies, one glowing purple and the other a light blue. They slowly traveled closer to me, the light radiating from their bodies, warming me. We sit in the rain storm and talk for hours until eventually the rain cleared. Once this happens, we travel outside. The ground is moist and wet but no matter, I had made new friends. I begin to run, doing cartwheels and somersaults across the field. The two fairies join me and we laugh as we ran. The days passed but the fun didn't stop and life felt good again.

I see someone entering the field. It's not one of the town folks; it's someone new. I slowly sneak out from the hollowed log and take a better look at the stranger. He is smiling and has a backpack that is littered with masks on the outside. Something makes me wonder what's in the bag though. Something makes me want to look through it without asking permission, as I have the feeling he wouldn't tell me anyways. Slowly, I creep out of the hollowed log, in such a way, that he can't see me. Then grabbing a rock, I threw it with all my might. The rock sailed through the sky and crashed into the man's head. I ran over to where the man now lay unconscious with his backpack on the ground next to him. I start going through the back pack and pull out dozens of masks each one more beautiful than the next. But I know these masks aren't the one I want. I know which mask I want. Finally I reached the bottom of the backpack and I knew had found it. There it lay. The brightly colored mask was shaped like a heart and was lined with spikes. The front was multicolored with two giant eyes staring at me as if they could see into my soul. I want- no I need to put it on, I need it for my own. I pick up the mask and turn it, bringing the strap around my head, and tremble as I slide the mask over my face.


End file.
